


Serendipity

by soyviolatte



Category: Stardew Valley
Genre: Abigail x female reader for a short time, Awkward Harvey, Domestic, Drama and Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Growing Up, Hotshot Alex, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mystery, Romance, Slice of Life, Sorry they're my fav boys, Stardew Valley - Freeform, Survival, Tsundere Sebastian, Wholesome, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-08-25 06:04:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soyviolatte/pseuds/soyviolatte
Summary: Ellie thought life was going to be straightforward after she graduated, however now she's stuck in a dead end job in Joja Corp and feeling life pass her by.What happens when she inherits her Grandpa's farm and moves to Pelican Town to change herself and her life? Will she find love and happiness? Or heartache and disappointment?





	1. The letter

Ellie had been lost for as long as she could remember.  
When she graduated from high school she had always felt that she had a plan for life. She was to go to the top University in Zuzu city and study for three years then she would graduate and get a job as a brilliant young veterinarian in the city, have a successful career then eventually fall in love and start a family.  
Simple enough, right?  
But yet she had stayed at university for over five years and once she finally did graduate she didn’t get her dream job. She's still not sure as why life played out as it had, but for the last two years she was working for Joja corporation in Marketing.  
Fucking. Marketing.

Ellie wasn't entirely sure how she had lasted so long, her co workers were bitchy, her boss was unbearable and she was pretty sure the company as a whole was draining her soul.  
Ellie's family lived about an hour an a half away from Zuzu city, she didn’t often get to visit more than a few times a year despite them being so close, but she called them often.  
Her family was from humble beginnings. Her Father had grown up on a farm and was raised by her Grandpa, a very hardworking man. Her Dad moved to Zuzu city as a twenty-something year old after breaking his Fathers heart when he told him he didn’t want to take over the family farm.  
So her Grandpa to this day was still tolling away in Stardew Valley, working on his fields and tending to his crops. Ellie loved her Grandpa, as she had often fought with her Grandmother when she visited, she would retreat to her Grandpa's workshop and talk with him. As she grew up she loved helping him around the farm and with the animals, and relished her time spent on their farm.

DING DING DING

Ellie almost fell out of her chair. The obnoxious bell indicated the day was over for the company. Ellie let out a deep sigh and packed up her things, eager to escape the confines of her daily prison. She trudged out of the office and swiped her time card out, on the way out a picture of her boss grinning with his wide, cheshire cat smile. Underneath his picture, were the company's words "Join us. Thrive."  
'I'm positive I work for a cult,' Ellie thought to herself.

She definitely didn't feel like she was thriving.  
As she exited the building, the sun was setting on Zuzu city. When she first moved here the sight of the sun touching the tops of the skyscrapers was gorgeous to her. It took her breath away and made her feel giddy with life's possibilities. Now it made her sick to her stomach.  
She caught the crowded train home to her shitty apartment and walked the thousand flight of stairs to her room, her safe space. When she set foot inside she kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the couch. She stared at the stained roof for a while before sighing, and standing up to go make dinner.  
That’s when she noticed it. The letter, which had been slid under her door, waxed shut with her name on the front.

Her interest piqued, she opened the letter, not recognising the handwriting. Her eyes widened and tears began to prick her eyes as she read the words:  
'Dearest Ellie,  
If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong. I've enclosed the deed to that place… My pride and joy: Foxrun Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life.  
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the family name, darling Ellie. Know I went peacefully and I love you so very very much.  
Good luck.

Love, Grandpa.'

Her Grandpa was dead. So far that was all she could register. She fell to the floor and just stared at the letter, tears falling. Time passed, she wasn't sure how much. But she finally got off the floor, wiped her face and went and took a hot shower. She knew she should call or go see her parents, but she couldn't bring herself to talk. She washed her hair, feeling the heat of the water re-energise her body, washing away the pain. She changed into warm, soft pyjamas and even went a step further and put on a face mask and poured herself some wine. She had some serious thinking to do.

Her grandpa had left her his farm, she now owned it. But could she pack up her whole life and just move to Stardew Valley? But, her Grandpa had a point; 'You are in dire need of change.' Ellie hated her life. She wasn't doing something she loved, she wasn't with people she loved, she felt like the city and her job was slowly crushing her.  
She washed her face mask off and looked at her face in the mirror. Her blue eyes hard with resolve. She would move to Pelican Town and take over her Grandpa's home.   
Grinning at her own reflection, she began to blow dry her long, wet black hair and tied it up for bed.  
She took a deep breath and finally called her parents, her Mum answered, the croakiness of her voice making it evident she had been crying. Her mum began to tell her what had happened but Ellie interrupted her Mother.

"I know Ma, he sent me a letter… He gave me the farm."

"Oh! The farm…? I hadn't even thought about what would happen to the farm… Oh darling you know you don't have to take it if you don't want to, we could sell it or something, you don't need a burden like that," her mother rambled when she was sad.

"No Mum, I think I want it. I'm… I'm not doing okay here, I think I want change, and I think Grandpa knew I wouldn't love the city life. At least not forever and he knew how much I loved helping him on his farm when I was younger."

Her Mother began to argue more saying perhaps she should think about it more because running a farm and helping out at a farm are two very different things.

They talked for an hour, before Ellie said she had work tomorrow and was going to bed, her Mother said goodbye and urged her to think more about it all. Ellie said she would. But after they hung up, Ellie felt more resolved in her decision, she was ready to embrace change. Ellie knew she wouldn't be able to sleep and started to pack, her clothes, her kitchen supplies, bathroom things. By the time the sun was coming up, her whole apartment was boxes. She felt good, like she had washed away all the dirty things this city had pushed onto her. She grabbed her laptop and looked for a U-haul she could rent for the day, and once she had booked it, she got changed and was ready for the rest of her life to begin.


	2. The clean up

As Ellie drove into the outskirts of the town, she felt light and happy. She had made brilliant time from Zuzu city, noting that it was now around 11 am.  
The view as she drove into the town was gorgeous, everything was green and teeming with in the forest, the river in the area was abundant with fish and was flowing strong and blue. She pulled in and around to the entrance to the farm, the familiar trees and gates filling her with a feeling of familiarity.

 

However once she came up to the house, the farm were very different to the last time she was here. The once green and well tended fields were now overgrown with no fresh crops growing, the animal barns and chicken coops abandoned and overgrown with weeds and spider webs.  
The house was in decent shape but was in dire need of cleaning, a coat of paint and decent maintenance. Ellie certainly had her work cut out for her. Despite this, she had a strong feeling of hope and excitement.

She pulled up and jumped out of the van. To her surprise an older gentleman came out of her house, he wore a brown newsboy hat and had a grey moustache that sat proudly on his upper lip.

'Hi there, you must be Ellie! I am Mayor Lewis of Pelican Town, and an old friend of your Grandpa's. It's wonderful to finally meet you.' He grinned and waved as Ellie approached the house and held out his hand. 

'Hello, lovely to meet you. I'm so excited to finally be here, it looks so different from I last visited,' Ellie speculated, gesturing to the fields. Lewis gave a sad smile and nodded in agreement.

'Yes well, as your Grandfather got older her struggled to keep up with the demands of his farm and eventually began to sell his livestock and cut down to smaller amounts of crops. Unfortunately towards the end, he wasn't even able to do that,' Lewis explained. Ellie's heart clenched with sadness at hearing how his frailty set in quickly.

 

Blinking so her tears wouldn't shed she smiled to Lewis.  
'I suppose I will have to work hard to get this place back up to my Grandpa's standard and make him proud.' Ellie grinned.

'All of us in town are looking forward to seeing you and the farm prosper. Truth be told the town really needs the local income, as you can see we're a small settlement and have been struggling recently.' Lewis' eyebrows furrowed with concern. 

It made sense, the town from memory wasn't overly large and everyone in this sort of a community must have needed to rely on one another to keep the town going. As they were talking. a woman with strawberry blonde hair came out from inside Ellie's new house, wiping her brow and smiling as she approached.

 

'Hey there! I'm Robin the local carpenter, it's so good to finally meet you,' she shook Ellie's hand.  
'I live up on the mountain with my husband and two kids, you should come by sometime,' Robin gave Ellie a warm smile, which Ellie returned.

 

'Wow yeah, I'd love to meet some of the townsfolk, I'll try and come by sometime this week once I've got some of this place cleaned up and myself settled in.' Ellie laughed, gesturing to the large amount of work the house needed. Robin laughed and agreed she would be in for a lot of work.

 

Ellie, Lewis and Robin chatted for a few more minutes before they said they should leave Ellie to unpack, but kindly helped her move some of the heavy things into the house, like her queen bed, couch and TV. Ellie thanked them for their help and waved them off from her porch. 

As she looked inside the house she noted that Robin and Lewis had fixed up the inside of the house for her. They had swept out all the dirt and cobwebs, as well as fixing holes in the roof. Ellie noted this by the difference in the shades of wood.

 

Ellie pushed the couch and TV into the arrangement she wanted and then moved the Bed into the corner of the room, opposite the fire place.

 

Then began the hard work.

 

Ellie parked the U-Haul closer to the house and began unpacking boxes and placing them in the room they were labelled. Grandpa's house looked small but had two levels and a cellar below.

 

She had planned the layout in her head, her room would be to the left, in the room with the fireplace as she knew winter to be quite bitter in the house. Next to it would be the lounge room so she could watch the news in the morning whilst making breakfast, as the lounge room opens to the kitchen.

 

Next was upstairs, she wasn't too sure what to do with the space so the room that was to the left of the stairs was to be a 'hobby room', she was setting up her books, typewriter and record player in there. The room opposite would be a spare bedroom she figured, unsure what to do with so much space and just one person living here. If her family ever visited or someone needed a place to crash, she would have the space to house them.

Ellie spent the remainder of the day unpacking the boxes, and the day passed quickly. The sun had well and truly set, and she was still in the middle of all of her unpacking. Ellie had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to sleep if she hadn't finished unpacking and decorating the house.

 

Around 3 am she had finished everything. She had put up an off white wallpaper all throughout the house to offset the mahogany wood floors. Her bedroom was covered in white fairy lights and posters from her favourite games and music artists. Her dark wood book shelves were covered with video game and TV character figurines, books, music CD's and the black couch in the far corner was decorated with fluffy white and red pillows.

 

She was proud she had finished unpacking and decorating the entire house in one night. She went to the bathroom which was freshly cleaned and the light blue tiles shone. Ellie stepped into the shower and washed away the days hard work and exhaustion. She finished quickly and got into her warm bed and snuggled under the beige sheets.

 

She was awoken by the sun filtering through the window and onto her face, softly caressing her. She stretched and let out a sigh.

The first day of the rest of her life.

 

She may have thought yesterday was hard, but today would be even harder, Ellie told herself.  
Ellie got out of bed and went to her closet, she pulled out her light denim overalls and put an old band t-shirt on underneath.

She quickly pulled on her black work boots and went to make breakfast- the most important meal of the day for a farmer. She made bacon and eggs and watched the news while she ate, she was lucky that it looked like the rest of the week was going to be sunny. Finishing her breakfast she walked outside and surveyed the area.

 

The farm had a few natural water holes and it appeared her Grandpa had taken down all the fences so she had a lot to work with.

 

Ellie spent half the day weeding and managed to clean the entire area until it was just freshly turned soil and trees, no weeds.  
By the time she had completed this, she was covered in sweat and dirt, but she felt satisfied. She spent the whole day cleaning up the farm.

The following day was also spent creating fences and putting them up. She was creating a layout that ensured livestock would have enough space to roam, but the farm also had sufficient fields for crops. It was a large area so she wasn't worried about running out of space.

To the left of the house would be a barn and next to it would be a chicken coop. The two would be split down the middle to give both animals area to roam outside and grass to graze on. Ellie had then decided down the front of the house would be the seasonal crops, and further along would be an orchard. Although the orchard would take longer to begin, she felt hopeful she could have an array of trees, and potentially begin a vineyard. Ellie knew she was getting ahead of herself but she couldn't help but be excited at the possibilities of this place.

This was her home, and her future.


	3. Hello, I'm Ellie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter ended up being waaaay longer than I intended! I started introducing characters and it just went on and on. I hope it's not boring and you all enjoy!

She spent the week setting up the hardwood fences, tilling the fields to make them ready for crops, and patching up the barn and chicken coop. Once completed, it meant she was ready to go to town to buy seeds and finally start the farm. On Friday morning she washed up and changed into a white frilly spaghetti strap dress which was embroidered with pink cherry blossoms. 

She put on matching white and pink ballet shoes, brushed her black hair into a braid, grabbed her money and was out the door.  
She knew her outfit was a bit much, but first impressions in this town definitely matter and likely after this should would always be in farmers clothes, so this was the one opportunity she had to look like a girl, she laughed to herself. 

 

She walked into the town, enjoying all the green and nature on the way in. She let the spring sun fall on her face and the smell of Pelican town fill her nose. The first house she spotted was a brown roofed, bluish white building. As she walked up, upon closer inspection she noted the red cross on the front of the building and the inscription, 'Harvey's Doctors Clinic.' She walked in and introduced herself to the girl at reception who gave her a quizzical look as she opened the door.

 

'Oh! You're the new farmer, it's wonderful to meet you. My name is Maru, I live on the mountain with my parents and older brother. I work here part time for Harvey. He's actually just in his office if you want to say hello?' Ellie chatted to Maru and then said she would introduce herself to Harvey. She quickly walked to his office and knocked on the door.

 

'Hello, I'm the new farmer Ellie, I thought I would introduce myself,' She explained as she walked in.

'Ah Mayor Lewis told me about you, lovely to meet you. Have you had a check up recently? With the shift from winter to spring it is easy to get sick.' Ellie giggled and chatted with the doctor for half an hour.

 

Before she left he insisted on a quick check up and Ellie couldn’t help but blush, although the man was a doctor he was quite handsome and appeared young. She couldn't help but stare at his emerald green eyes as they concentrated on her heartbeat, which she was sure was fast.

He just smiled at her, evidently noticing her nervousness and gave her the all clear with a smile and said he hoped to see her soon, but not as a patient as a friend.

 

Her next stop was the general store, she walked to the counter and met Pierre, the man who owned the general store and chatted with him. Ellie felt it was important to make good relations with him as she knew that as a farmer she would become quite close with his business and rely on his store for her needs. She requested his help on what seeds were in season and if he had any knowledge on growing crops. Pierre was actually quite knowledgeable and was a great help to Ellie.

Pierre opened up to her and explained the struggles his store and family have had since Joja Mart opened up on the other side of the river. Ellie scoffed with disgust and promised Pierre she would never EVER shop there. He smiled with relief and thanked her for her future patronage.

Ellie ended up buying at least one of each crop and multiple strawberry and rhubarb seeds. After this Pierre insisted she meet the rest of his family, Caroline was sweet and reserved, she exuded an aura that was fitting of a mother, and kindly welcomed Ellie to Pelican Town.

Abigail, Pierres daughter was gorgeous. She had long, flowing purple hair and matching amethyst eyes which shone with intelligence. Her voice was smooth, light and enthralled Ellie. Abigail told Ellie she couldn't understand why anyone would move here and Ellie said she couldn't understand why more people didn't live here, Abigail just laughed at her response.

 

Ellie unfortunately was running short on time and had to excuse herself from the family but promised to visit often. Moving along to the next house, Ellie encountered a handsome, tall and tanned young man who was tossing a ball around with his dog. He picked up the ball and turned to throw it towards the dog who had run over to Ellie, inspecting the new human.

She knelt down and patted the dog who instantly rolled over, accepting and eager for the new attention.

'Hey, I haven't seen you before. My names Alex, I live here with Grandparents,' he flashed Ellie a blinding smile and she returned it. 

'Hi, yeah I'm taking over my Grandpa's farm to the West of town, so I figured I would come meet everyone. I love your dog, he's so cute,' Ellie cooed at the dog. Alex couldn't help but stare as she played with his dog, mainly because Archie doesn’t like anyone but Alex. The dog often would bark and nip at Haley his best friend, yet he loved this stranger. He smiled down at her.

 

'Well, you're welcome to come inside and meet my Grandparents, I am sure they would love to meet you, it's exciting having a new girl move to town.' Alex offered his hand to Ellie and she took it as she stood up and patted the dog goodbye.

Alex introduced Ellie to George and Evelyn, Evelyn gushed over Ellie and offered her cookies and tea to which Ellie felt she could not refuse. George was quite distant and prickly but told her he was sorry for the loss of her Grandpa and that he was a good man and great friend. 

She thanked him and chatted away with his wife, while Alex and George looked on.  
Ellie quickly finished her cookies and tea and excused herself as she had to meet the others in town.

Evelyn was sad to see her go but insisted she come by often for tea, and Ellie promised she would. Alex told her she should come throw the football with him sometime but warned her that he was really good.   
'That's a shame, because I'm quite terrible at sports, so I think if we throw the ball around, you should definitely wear your helmet,' Alex burst into laughter.

Ellie walked past Alex's place towards the trailer near the river, there was a lot of mess out the front and an empty wine bottle and an ash tray sitting on the table outside. Ellie knocked cautiously and couldn't help but be worried at the inhabitants of the trailer.

A dainty girl with orange hair in pigtails opened the door. She had a look of confusion on her face once she opened the door and Ellie quickly remembered how to speak.

 

'Hi I'm new to town and introducing myself to everyone, my name is Ellie and I took over my Grandpa's farm on the other side of town,' the girl gently smiled and nodded as she listened.

'It's lovely to meet you, my name is Penny. I live here with my Mother but unfortunately she's quite tired from... work last night, so she's sleeping right now. But I am about to leave and go meet up with Jas and Vincent. They're the two children I teach. Would you like to walk with me?' She asked as she stepped outside and shut the trailer door, Ellie agreed and they walked together and discussed Penny's job as teacher in the town and how she would like to be a proper teacher in the future, as she loves children.

They arrived by a large oak tree in the town and sitting in its shade were a little girl and young boy, who Ellie assumed to be Jas and Vincent. Penny told them how Ellie was new to the town and to be polite and introduce themselves. Vincent was a very boisterous young boy and walked to Ellie and began talking with ease.

 

'I'm Vincent, I live with my Mum and big brother Sam in my house over there.' He pointed behind him. 'I have a dad but he's overseas fighting the Gotoro Empire. I hope he comes home soon.' Ellie wasn't really sure how to respond to the information dump.  

'O-oh, well its lovely to meet you Vincent, lets play together some time okay?' Ellie smiled.  
Jas was the opposite of Vincent and took a lot of encouragement from Penny to go up to Ellie and introduce herself.

'I'm Jas… I live on a farm with my mummy and uncle Shane… Nice to meet you.' Then she scurried back to Penny who just gave a sympathetic smile to Ellie. Ellie then excused herself saying she needed to go meet all the other residents. Ellie was beginning to feel more and more at home in the town with the more people she met.  
She felt good, confident.

She walked to the house that Vincent had indicated was his and there was a lady with chestnut hair out the front tending to the garden.

'Hello there! I'm Ellie, I've just moved into my Grandpa's old farm and am introducing myself around town, I just met your lovely son Vincent,' the lady popped her head up and gave a warm, motherly smile. 

'It's wonderful to meet you Ellie, my name is Jodi.I hope Vincent was nice to you,' She laughed. 'I have another boy around your age named Sam, he's probably inside playing his guitar. I was just about to get some lemonade from inside if you would like to say hello?' Jodi gestured for Ellie to follow her inside and she agreed.

 

Their home was cosy and there was evidence of Vincent's adventures inside with his toys scattered around the lounge room, which Jodi apologised for.

The mother knocked on Sam's door and Ellie heard an annoyed grunt come from within. Once the blonde boy emerged from the room his eyes widened at the sight of the unknown, pale skinned girl in the white dress. Ellie smiled at Sam as his mother introduced her.

 

'Hi Sam, I liked the song you were playing, its by the Deadly Hounds right? How long have you played guitar?' Ellie smiled at him.

 

'Wow, nice to meet you, I didn't know someone new was moving in! Uh yeah I've played for about 5 years I think. I love Deadly Hounds, their album Burn the House is my favourite! Me and my friends have started a band together, but we're still working out our sound, we're not sure what vibe we should go for.' Sam started.

 

Ellie and Sam chatted for a while about music and he insisted they should jam together some time and Ellie laughed and said maybe, but that she wasn't very good.

 

Ellie continued on her meet and greet journey to the house next door to Jodi and Sam, and was met with a quirky girl with blue hair. She surveyed Ellie's outfit and smiled at her before introducing herself as Emily.

 

'Wonderful to finally meet the new farmer! I'm glad you're a girl too, we need more girls in town I think. I love your outfit, is this linen? It looks amazing on you. Oh I'm sorry, it's just I'm a fashion designer and I love seeing new things.'

 

'Oh why thank you, yeah I bought it in Zuzu city. It's a little old though. So you're a fashion designer? What sort of clothes do you make?' Emily smiled and rushed Ellie inside into her kitchen to show her a new item she was working on.

 

It was a gorgeous cerulean summer dress in an A-line style, Ellie praised Emily on her work and said she would love to purchase anything she made.

A snort came from behind Ellie and she turned around. A blonde girl with curled hair, pink lips, a blue singlet top with faux buttons on it tucked into a pink mini skirt came into the room. Ellie couldn't help but admire her style and thought her very pretty. Until she spoke.

'You think this is nice? Please, any of the designers in Zuzu city would scoff at her work. It's not in at all. God, I have a sister who can make clothes but wont make anything good! I STILL have to go all the way to Zuzu city each season to buy new clothes, could you be anymore inconsiderate Emily?' The girl rolled her eyes and Ellie was unsure what to do in the moment, feeling quite awkward. 

'Haley, this is the new farmer in town, Ellie. She just moved here from Zuzu city,' Emily sighed at her sister.

Haley perked up at the mention of Zuzu city and began bombarding Ellie with questions, where she was from, what was her house like, what were her friends like, did she go into the city centre often, did she have a boyfriend, what was her favorite shop and more until Ellie's head was spinning.

Unfortunately for Ellie, Haley was rather unimpressed by her answers and grew bored with her saying she was going for a walk. Ellie said she would walk out with her as she was going up the mountain to visit Robin and her family, so she said goodbye to Emily and followed Haley out the door.

On their walk out Ellie asked Haley about the camera Hayley had in her hand, which got the girl talking again, Haley wanted to model and often practiced with the camera, but also enjoyed taking photographs of the landscape in Stardew Valley, as they walked Haley showed Ellie some of her pictures and Ellie had to admit, they were very good.

 

She praised Haley on her skill and asked if one day she could come with her when she did a photo shoot. Haley blushed and said maybe if she was lucky.

Once they reached the fountain behind the general store and clinic, they parted ways and Ellie walked past an abandoned building and up the track towards Robin's house.

She marvelled at the river that was below her to the side of the cliff, and as she walked she encountered many rabbits and squirrels. Looking at the trees it appeared that the cherry blossoms were almost in full bloom and the butterflies all danced around the falling petals. It was stunning.

 

Walking up toward the house she couldn’t help but be in awe at its size. It was a large, elegant wooden house, out the front was a garden with many different plants, and hidden in the garden was a telescope. Once she arrived she knocked on the door and heard Robin's familiar voice yell 'Come in!'

 

'Hey Robin, I'm here to meet everyone!' Ellie announced and Robin ushered Ellie inside. The house was even more amazing inside as after Robin's workshop area as you entered, to the side was a laboratory which was all white. Inside was a tall, dark man whom she introduced as her husband.

 

"Ellie, this is Demetrius my husband, he's a scientist and uses this room for his research! He often gets help from our daughter Maru, but today she's at the Clinic. Have you met her?'

 

'Oh yes, I met Maru, she's seems lovely. You must be excited to get to work with your daughter everyday,' Ellie spoke to Demetrius and he nodded.

 

'Yes it is quite a privilege, I can't believe how gifted she is, currently she's working with robotics. I truly believe one day she will be a master in her field.' Ellie was impressed, she was terrible at science and couldn't help but be amazed at the duo and the work they were undertaking.

 

The three chatted for a while before Ellie remembered Robin said she had two children.  
'Robin, you mentioned you had two children?  I've only met Maru,' Ellie commented. 

'Oh, Sebby is probably in his room downstairs, you can go down if you want to.' Robin showed Ellie the way down to the basement.

 

'Tell him to stop surfing the internet and to go outside when you see him Ellie!' Demetrius called out after her, Robin just sighed. Ellie didn't really know what to make of the comment.  
She walked down the stairs and knocked on the door and heard 'It's open' from the inside.

 

'Hi, sorry to intrude. I'm Ellie, I'm the new to town, I just took over my Grandpa's farm which isn't too far from your place.' Ellie began to ramble as she walked inside.

 

A head of purple hair popped up from behind the computer monitor and he walked around. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt drawn to him. He had pale skin, full lips and dark eyes to match his hair. He returned her smile and said it was okay.

 

'It's good to meet you, I'm Sebastian. Sorry about my step-father, I heard him yelling for me to go outside,' he rolled her eyes and Ellie smiled and said it was okay. She looked around his room, she had thought from what Demetrius had said that Sebastian would be some sort of smelly teenager who never left his room.

 

But the room smelt like incense had just been burnt, his walls were decorated with posters of music and video games that Ellie liked, and on the table in the centre of his room Dungeons and Dragons was laid out.

 

'What are you up to? Demetrius told me to tell you to stop surfing the net,' Ellie joked, but this seemed to be a sore point. Sebastian scoffed and gestured for her to follow him to the computer.

 

'I'm not surfing the net, I do freelance programming. I like to do it from home because it means I don’t have to interact with other people. But everyone around here doesn’t take my work seriously.' Sebastian sighed.

 

Ellie felt bad for him but said she found the work impressive, she was never smart enough to do something such as programming. Sebastian told her it wasn't as hard as she thought and she laughed, not believing him.

 

Ellie enjoyed her time with Sebastian but still had a few places in town to go to. She mentioned she had met all his friends and found them really fun.

'If that's true then why don’t you come to the Saloon on Friday night? We always go, it's like a tradition.'

 

'Oh really? Yeah I would love to come, If it's not too much of an intrusion,' Ellie said nervously. Sebastian shook his head.

'Not at all, it'll be fun to have someone new to liven the place up,' he smiled softly.

' Oh wow, okay yeah, I'll see you then,' Ellie left Sebastian with a smile and walked back upstairs. She said farewell to Robin and Demetrius and made her way back into town to locate the Saloon.

 

Ellie thought about all the people she had met today and felt giddy. Everyone was so kind and interesting, she couldn't wait to get to know everyone better.  
'But I have to get my farm on track first and then fun later,' Ellie chided herself.

 

Walking past Alex's home she located the Saloon, which was a lovely brick building with vines and flowers growing on the front. Inside she found various people she hadn't met before, a little annoyed at herself for missing all these people, she walked to the bar where she found Emily serving.

 

'Hi Ellie! Only a few days in town and you need a drink already?' She joked, Ellie laughed but said she was still meeting everyone in town. Emily nodded and grabbed the other man behind the bar and introduced him to her.

 

'Ellie this is Gunther! He's the owner of the Saloon and also the resident chef!' Ellie shook his hand and introduced herself to him.

'Oh the new farmer! Lewis didn't tell me you were a gorgeous lass. Here, have a drink on the house as a welcome to Pelican Town.'

 

'Oh wow! Thank you so much, I love your building, its so gorgeous.' Gunther thanked her and wished her good luck on her farm.

 

Ellie moved away from the bar and walked up to one of two women in the bar, she had long brown hair in a braid and was a rather large but motherly looking woman. But rather than introducing herself, the woman jumped in excitement when Ellie approached her.

 

'Oh you're the new farmer! Ellie! Mayor Lewis told me all about you! My name is Marnie, I'm not sure if you've had much time to explore yet but my ranch is just south of yours, I used to sell animals and supplies to your Grandpa and I hope I will be able to do the same for you!' She gushed.

 

"Wow, thank you. That's so lovely of you. Are you Jas's mother? She mentioned she lived on a ranch. I'm hoping soon I will be able to purchase a few cows and chickens, but I suppose it all takes time," Ellie sighed a little. Marnie patted her on the back and continued chatting with her, giving her words of encouragement and tips.

 

Soon Mayor Lewis joined the duo in which almost instantly Marnie was no longer interested in Ellie and she was soon cut out of the conversation. Taking note it was time for her to leave the group she moved over two the other lady at the bar. Ellie tried to introduce herself but the curly blonde woman just grunted at her and told her to leave her alone.

 

Ellie felt dismayed but as she walked across the bar, Gunther whispered in her ear that the woman was Pam and she's been having a rough time lately and to cut her some slack, Ellie nodded and said she understood.

 

Ellie began to feel exhausted and sat down next to a gruff looking man who had messy black hair with a beanie and a full beard, he smelt like the ocean and Ellie remembered there was in fact a beach in Pelican Town, she would have to visit it sometime.

 

'You're new here.' A gruff voice graced Ellie's ears and she smiled at the man.

'Yes, I'm Ellie. I just took over my Grandpa's farm.'

'Ah so that's you, eh? Nice to meet you, I'm Willy. The resident fisherman. I live down by the docks and run a bait shop if you like fishing. I'm trying to keep the art alive in this town,' he chuckled lightly.

Ellie nodded.  
'Grandpa used to take me fishing here when I was younger. Perhaps when I am more settled in and have my farm up and running I'll come join you,' Ellie offered, Willy nodded and said that would be fine.

They sat in silence for a while and Ellie noticed by the fireplace there was a man sitting by himself and asked Willy who that was.

 

'That's Shane, Marnie's nephew. He's had a rough time of late and is renting a room at her place, helps her with the chickens and that. Alright bloke, a bit grim if you ask me.' Ellie hummed. She decided to go say hello to him.

"Hi, Shane right? My name is Ellie, I moved into the farm near your Aunties ranch. It's lovely to meet you, Marnie had many great things to say about you,' Ellie smiled at the man, but he just stared blankly at her.

 

'Hm, right. Yeah nice to meet you. I help Marnie on the ranch in the morning and then work at Joja Mart so my days are long. So after the day is over I like to enjoy a peaceful drink at the bar. In silence,' Ellie could tell he was insinuating for her to buzz off, but she couldn't help but want to annoy him more.

 

'Wow that sounds tough. You must love your Auntie, its very kind of you to work for her. How's work at Joja Mart?' Ellie kept questioning him, and despite being evidently annoyed with her, he answered her questions and continued the conversation.

They talked for a while but steadily his answers became more abrupt and eventually Ellie announced she had better get home and get prepared for planting her crops tomorrow. Shane grunted a good bye and with that, she was off.

 

The sun had set while she was inside but here in town there was no light pollution, so the moon lit her way home. She felt safe walking home alone at night here, unlike in Zuzu city, she was always weary when she had to walk by herself in the dark, and always called her parents or friends when she had to.  
Then she heard it

A rustling, the sound of sticks breaking underfoot. Her body went rigid and Ellie began to sweat.

She wasn't sure of the location of the sound, was it behind her? In front of her? She turned the corner of the Saloon and ran into a man and she screamed. He stood up, scared and shushed her asking her to please not yell.

 

Ellie opened her eyes and looked at the man in front of her. He was wearing clothing that appeared to be made from leaves and had a long white beard and hair to match. His brown eyes were scared and he held his hands out in front of him in surrender.

'O-oh I'm sorry, I got a little scared. I just moved here from Zuzu city so I got scared when I heard someone, I thought you might be following me.' She explained. He held a hand out and helped her stand up.

'It's okay. My name is Linus. I live in a tent in the mountains so im just foraging around in town. People don't really like me or accept me as a part of the town, so I have to do this at night.' Linus explained.

Ellie frowned, but understood. People hate what is different, and Linus was different from everyone she had met so far.  
Linus offered to walk her home to make her feel more safe and she accepted.

'Why do you live in a tent, Linus?' Ellie inquired. He smiled at her.

 

'I chose to live in a tent because I feel more free, I'm not stuck in one place. Perhaps when I feel it is time to move on, I don’t have to sell everything, I can just pack my tent and move along to the next town. I enjoy living off the land, I give her parts of me and she gives me parts of her,' Linus sounded happy while explaining his way of life.

Ellie admitted she couldn't do it herself and wasn't sure she understood, but she could empathise. He thanked her for that.

They got to the entrance of her farm and Linus bid her good night and welcome to Pelican Town. Ellie waved him goodbye and walked slowly home, rolling all the memories of meeting everyone around in her head, collecting her thoughts.

 

Living here was going to be interesting was the conclusion she came to as she rushed through her front door.


	4. Amethyst

Ellie woke up the next day feeling refreshed and happy, she walked out onto her porch and drank her morning coffee as she watched the sun begin to send streaks of orange and red across the sky.

She surveyed her farm and was proud at the progress she had made, she had begun planting her seeds yesterday and today was making more progress. She had done over 20 packs of spring seeds by the afternoon, and was praying they would grow healthy and strong.

After however she realised watering everyday herself would be a tiresome and time consuming activity and began to work on a water sprinkling system to minimize her work load so she could focus on getting livestock, and have more energy for work.

 

Ellie felt her mind drift to the townspeople and decided she would go visit some people today, she had only met everyone this week, but felt she should try and integrate herself into the community properly. Rather than be the crazy lady on a farm, she laughed to herself.

 

Ellie decided she would go visit Abigail who she met yesterday, they didn't speak much but Ellie felt a uniqueness from Abigail and that they would be fast friends.

She walked through the town's centre and still felt the serenity and freshness of the country side, she noted the bluebells pushing through the grass along side lily of the valley.

Cherry blossoms were beginning to blossom beside apricot and cherry trees, which were scattered through out the town.

Following the cobblestone path Ellie arrived at the general store and was welcomed by the sound of the ringing bell attached to the door and Pierre turning around to smile at her.

 

Ellie made small talk but regrettably informed Pierre she was not a customer today but here to visit his daughter. Pierre ushered her through the back and Ellie knocked on Abigail's door, waiting nervously for her to answer.

The door swung open and Abigail's was surprised at the sight of the slightly dirty farmer waiting in front of her door but quickly her expression melted and she smiled and welcomed Ellie inside her room.

 

As she entered Ellie felt oddly serene, Abigail's wallpaper was of the ocean floor, with blue water enveloping the room with seaweed and coral brightening the room. On her wooden bookshelf there was a variety of fantasy and few a romance novels hidden between novels, as well as action figures and small treasures.

 

'Hey, a girls room is very personal please don’t scrutinize every detail,' Abigail said embarrassingly and Ellie realized she was staring and quickly apologized, blushing.

 

'No no, I'm not! You're room is really lovely. Is that a guinea pig?' Ellie walked over to the large tank pushed against the back wall of the room.

 

'Yeah, his name is David. I think in another life he was an acrobat because he loves to jump around in his cage and do tricks,' Ellie laughed at the thought.

 

Abigail brought David out and Ellie felt so nervous as the animal was small and squishy, she worried she may squash him. Abigail laughed and told her she wouldn't. She said Ellie was a farmer and she was connected in a special way to the land and animals, she knew Ellie be careful and kind to David.

 

Ellie and Abigail sat down on the ground and began playing with David, he crawled all around the bedroom, and they set up obstacle courses for him to work his way through.

 

Although this ended in David getting stuck in a toilet roll that he was too fat to fit through, and the two girls burst into laughter watching him try to push through the roll, until Ellie took pity on him and removed the roll from him.

Sprawled out on the floor the two began chatting, asking each other about where they grew up, what they wanted to do with their lives and hundreds of other topics.

 

While conversing, Ellie's eyes began to roam the room again, noting the bright rose quartz, amethyst, emerald and lapis lazuli on the windowsill and guessed that Abigail believed in the power of crystals or was like a magpie and enjoyed shiny things. Surveying around she spotted the game console near Abigail's TV and asked if she played many games.

 

Abigail's eyes lit up.

'Oh yeah, I really loved this console, I recently bought Journey of the Prairie King but I keep dying! I got so frustrated I had to go for a walk before I smashed the controller,' Abigail laughed and Ellie admitted she understood that feeling.

 

'Well, why don't we try together? You can play multi player with this story line right? Let's beat it!' Abigail made an O-shape with her mouth and jumped up in excitement, ran to put David away and threw cushions down in front of the TV so they could sit together.

 

They began playing and quickly they were shouting at each other for support.

 

'Quick! I've drawn them my way, start firing!' Abigail would yell.

 

'I've got them! Come here ya slimey bastards!' Ellie would shout.

 

Pierre could hear them from inside the shop and he couldn't help but worry about the two girls, as well as the fact they were scaring away customers.

 

Ellie wasn't sure how much time passed but she was having the most fun she had in a very long time. She didn't want to stop but her eyes had began to hurt and they were so far into the game, somewhere around level 50.

 

She fell back onto the ground with a happy say and chuckled.

 

'We played waaaaay to hard, didn't we?' Abigail laughed.

 

'Yeah we definitely did, I forgot how addictive video games were. What a terrible influence you are, Abigail.' Ellie giggled and Abigail followed suit.

 

'It's really nice to have a girl like you around, Ellie. To be honest my only friends are Sam and Sebastian which is great! Don't get me wrong, but often being the only girl in the friend group can feel quite isolating…' Abigail gave a small smile to Ellie, she understood how the girl felt, it was like that for her in high school.

 

Ellie tried to perk Abigail up as best she could, she really felt a strong connection to this girl, she wasn't entirely sure why. 

'Well, Sebastian invited me to your Friday night tradition, at the Saloon? Are you going to be there this week?'

'Oh my god, yes! I will be, we go every week obviously as you know. It would be really great to hang out with you then. The boy's can be idiots but they mean well.' Ellie smiled at the change in Abigail, noting the girl must feel the same way as Ellie did.

 

Ellie grabbed Abigail's hand between her two, noting the tint of pink on the girls cheeks as she did.

 

'Abigail, I think we're going to be really great friends,' Ellie smiled widely and hugged her, Abigail quickly returned the hug.

 

Ellie finally looked down at her watch and noted it was about 3pm and told Abigail regrettably had to leave.

 

'But as we said, Friday in the Saloon, yeah?' Ellie said, asking for confirmation. Abigail smiled and nodded.

 

'Around 6pm we usually go, so I will see you then!' Abigail walked with Ellie out of the store, and sad goodbye to the farmer. 

Abigail waved Ellie off and she left in high spirits. But there was a voice, in the back of her mind.

It hadn't spoken to her in a while, but it was loud now. It told her how nothing in life goes this well, especially not such dramatic changes as her life has undergone. That she was going to ruin everything, as she always does. She was going to fail, like she had in becoming a Vet.

 

Ellie tried to push it down, but she felt every time she shoved it away, it came back louder, screaming at her that SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG. YOU WILL RUIN EVERYTHING.

 

It wasn't fair. Today was a good day. She had been doing good. She felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her good mood soured as she ruined her day for herself, unable to control the demons inside her that began running amuck with her emotions. Ellie felt her anxiety beginning to get out of control, she needed a smoke.

 

'But everyone in town can't know I'm a smoker, no one else smokes, and surely they will think ill of me if I do,' she told herself.

 

Remembering not far from Robin's house was the mines that were surrounded by the lake, she decided no one would notice her smoking there. Robin rarely left the workshop and the lake wasn't on their way into town.

 

Ellie half walked, half ran there, feeling her thoughts consuming her and eating away at her confidence in her decision to move here, and what the townspeople thought of her.

As she snuck passed Robin's house she walked another 10 minutes to the lake and stood behind a large oak tree which was ripe with wildlife living within its branches.  
Ellie ripped open her leather pack and found her shame cigarettes. She grasped her cigarettes and frantically felt for her lighter. She flicked it twice, and it finally lit up and she breathed in the nicotine.

 

She sat down by the waters edge dipping her free hand into the cool water, breaking the mirrors surface and wiped her hands on the ground. She admired the lakes atmosphere it was cool, calm and wild. She was surrounded by primrose, lilies and other wild flowers that grew at the bottom of the oak tree, which in turn was shaded by other oaks and maples.

 

She heard a twig snap and whirled around to face whatever villager had snuck up on her. Her cigarette fell from her mouth and burnt her hand, she cursed, the singed skin aching.

 

'Wow, farmer girl smokes,' a gruff voice greeted her. Nursing her hand, Ellie looked at Sebastian who had a smirk plastered on his face and a lit cigarette in his hand.

 

'Wow, basement boy smokes,' she rebutted. He chuckled and sat down beside her.

 

'Your hand okay?'

 

'No, I think I need surgery.' Sebastian shoved Ellie's shoulder and they both laughed.

'No but for real, I'm a bit shocked you smoke. I'm definitely the only one in town who does. Mum and Demetrius make sure to tell me that everyday,' Sebastian chuckled and took a deep drag from his cigarette. 

'Yeah, I guess we all have our vices,' Ellie knew this didn't justify the bad habit, but how did she tell someone she met once 'wow I have anxiety and smoke to calm myself down because I have no coping mechanisms.' You just don't, she told herself.

 

'Don't worry, I wont tell anyone. God knows I get enough shit from my family and Harvey telling me to quit. God, not to mention Abigail hounding me to stop and how it's going to kill me one day. Like, I'm trying Abigail,' Sebastian and Ellie laughed at his dark humour. Ellie felt like, when they looked each other in the eye that their demons noticed each other and acknowledged that they both had the same darkness within one another. They were kin.

 

Neither were chain-smokers, but the two stayed together another for a few hours, soaking in teach others company. Sometimes they sat in silence and others in depth conversation about how they think the world was created or if reincarnation was real. They talked shit and it calmed Ellie, not just momentarily but to her core.

 

They watched the sun set behind the mines and light up the lake, painting the surface tangerine and crimson.

Sebastian told her how he wished so desperately to move to Zuzu city and never look back at this stupid one horse town, but he admitted he would miss things such as this sunset, and the bright stars. He often stood here and watched day transition into night and admire how the world slowly lulled itself to sleep.

 

Ellie smiled at him, despite being around a similar age, they were miles a part in where they were in life.

'Want me to walk you home? There may be coyotes about.' Sebastian teased the black haired girl, admiring the way the moonlight got caught in her tresses.

 

Truthfully, Ellie didn't know whether he was joking or not, so she just accepted his offer and they walked side by side in silence, down the mountain side to the back of Ellie's farm.  
'Thanks Sebastian, tonight was really good. I needed it.' Ellie smiled softly, her lips reaching towards her eyes.

 

'You don't need to thank me, I enjoyed it as well. Be safe Ellie, I'll see you later.' He raised his hand and waved goodbye, his long legs stretching for home. Ellie couldn't help but note despite feeling close to Sebastian after todays events, he still felt so very distant from her.

 

Ellie watched until his figure disappeared and then ventured inside. 

She walked into the white bathroom, disrobed and turned on the hot water in her shower, feeling it envelop her like a warm hug.

 

She sat down and let the water hit her back. She stared at the wall, her mind blank and unaware of the passage of time.

 

Time passed and she got out of the shower and simply dried off and slid into bed naked. Praying that the shower washed off the bad day and negative thoughts, she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.


	5. The Saloon

The rest of the week passed by at a snails pace. All Ellie wanted was for Friday night to roll around, but it seemed that it would never come. To try and make time go faster, Ellie focused on her farm and cultivating her crops. Often she would speak and sing to them as she worked, having read that they respond well to this.   
She wasn't crazy, it was for the plants.

By Thursday Ellie had completely finished her fields. As she walked out of her home and onto her porch she was faced with fenced land and tilled fields which sported small seedlings and a few saplings. Ellie was proud of her hard work, and that she had made a real go of being a farmer. 

Ellie had thrown herself into perfecting her farm, working on the interior of the broken down barn and coop, so she could soon raise livestock. By the evening, Ellie was covered head to toe in dust and sweat and had almost completed her work. Each day she worked hard and she found herself more proud of the work she was doing, of herself and felt closer to the land she worked on. 

Finishing up and dusting herself off, Ellie trudged back into her house, the weight and exhaustion of the day dragging with her. She showered and made a quick dinner as she was feeling lazy, and then poured herself a glass of wine as she watched TV.   
Ellie was really proud of how far she had come since moving here. It had already been two weeks and she had settled right into the routine of being a farmer. Although, her body did contest this dramatic change, so every morning and night she spent ten minutes stretching with her muscles screaming in protest.

As Ellie watched the news, images from the war against the Gotoro Empire flashed on her screen and how the troops were valiantly fighting against them. Ellie's mind turned to Sebastian and Vincent's dad, wondering where he was in this hellish war. Ellie soon finished dinner and gulped down the last of her wine before snuggling into bed for the night, excitement pooling in her stomach at the thought of meeting her friends tomorrow.

Her alarms beeping broke her sleep and forced her to roll out of bed. Bleary eyed, Ellie brushed her hair into her usual braid, pulled on her blue denim jeans and working shirt, before trudging to the kitchen to make breakfast and have her morning coffee. Ellie felt the nip of cold as she walked from her warm bedroom to her kitchen, and rushed to hold her hot coffee in her hands. She did minimal work in the morning to ensure she wasn't as tired by the end of the day. After watering her crops, Ellie realised she was done for the day. Deciding to use her time, she washed up and changed into casual clothes to head into town. She walked down to the end of her farm and turned to walk past Marnie's ranch, going past the river and empty paddocks south of her fields. 

As she turned left down the path Ellie heard a rustling in the trees behind her. She glanced at them, but saw nothing. Shrugging, she deducted that it was just a bird and continued on.   
A twig snapped.   
A murder of crows flew out from the trees.   
Her head whipped around, scanning the tree line, but saw and heard no other sound. 

Ellie felt the hairs on her neck stand up, like someone was watching her.   
Then she heard it, a whimper.  
At first she thought it was a wolf, having heard from Robin that sometimes they come up to the mountain from the forest. But this was the wrong area for the wolf to be in. Ellie began to back away, but then she heard it again.  
A pained whimper, a voice crying in pain or out of fear. Ellie's brain screamed at her to get away, because an injured wolf is dangerous. But she couldn't help but worry. What if she could help? What if it died because she didn't help the poor animal?

Ellie steeled her nerves and walked towards the trees, taking a deep breath as she pushed passed the prickly branches. Ellie gasped as her eyes laid on the poor creature. A pup, no bigger than a tissue box, looked up at her with its wide brown eyes before darting away from her. It's white fur stood stark against the dark green trees and grass. Ellie wondered where it came from, and knelt down till she was closer to its size, and reached her hand out towards it, holding it out mid-air. Its brown eyes scanned her, ears pushed against its skill, and tail between its legs as it cautiously walked towards her. 

Ellie fell a forward, startling the pup as she lost her balance. It darted away from her quickly, scared by her sudden movement. She moved to sit more securely, and placed her hand back out towards the animal, encouraging it to come and sniff her. That she was a friend, not a threat. Finally she felt its cold black nose touch her hand as it sniffed her, moving from her hand and down and around her body. When it finished, it still appeared unsure about her status as a friend or foe. She moved to pat its head softly, and it moved away a little, dodging her touch. She smiled softly, waited and tried again. This time it did not pull away, but its eyes were trained on hers as she petted its soft fur lightly. 

'Hello little one,' Ellie spoke softly, its ears pricked up at the sound of her voice, its eyes trained on her face. She continued to pat its head as she spoke, its head tilting a little as it listened to her speak.  
'Are you lost?' Ellie knew the animal wouldn't give her an answer. It looked less like a wolf and more like a dog, but Ellie could not be sure. The thought occurred to her that it was such a small town that perhaps someone would know whose dog it was. But she hadn’t noticed any dog other than Alex's, she thought to herself. She decided she would sit and befriend the animal, then take it to Marnie's to ask if anyone owned it. Or if it was a wolf, she laughed to herself. She figured since Marnie sold animals, so she would be the best to ask. 

Ellie stayed for what seemed hours, trying to build trust with the animal. After patting its head, she was finally able to pat its body and even get it to play with her. Ellie gave up her hand as the toy for the white fluff ball to maul and bite. But the pup was very gentle, never biting too hard and if Ellie said 'Ow!' it would look at her, almost apologetically before licking the wound it had created. The pup eventually tired itself out after an hour and a half of playing, and promptly curled itself up into her arms, and closed its eyes.

Ellie chuckled, and lifted it up in her arms, as she began walking towards Marnie's ranch. It turned its head towards her, then watched with curiosity at where they were going, all the trees and sounds it could see and hear from its new height. 

As she opened the door and walked into the shop at the front of Marnie's, Ellie was greeted by the smell of drying hay. The door jingled as she walked in and quickly Marnie ran into the room, ready to greet her. 

'Oh, hi Ellie, how are you?' Marnie wiped her hands on her apron and gave Ellie a warm smile.  
'Hi Marnie, I'm well thanks for asking. I found this pup on my walk here. It was hidden in the forest, I'm not sure if it was left there or if it wandered off.' Ellie sat the pup on the counter.  
'Do you know if it belongs to anyone in town? I'm sure its owner is worried sick,' Marnie gave the pup a once over and it returned her stare. She scratched it behind its ears.   
'Sorry Ellie, but I don't think this little cutie belongs to anyone in town. Sam and Vincent used to have a dog but it died last year, and Alex is the only other person in town with a dog I believe.' Marnie frowned as she spoke, racking her brain for any other answer. 

'Its not a wolf is it?' Ellie asked cautiously. Marnie's eyebrows raised, but she lifted the pups ears, opened his snout to look at his teeth and then inspected his feet.  
'No no,' she laughed. 'It's definitely a dog. Going off appearance I believe it’s a Great Pyrenees or a Samoyed. Unfortunately, I can't tell for sure.' The pup whined, before yawning and curling up on the counter.

'What do I do with it?' Ellie looked to Marnie. Ellie couldn't just release the dog back into the wild, that wasn't fair.   
'Not it. Him, darling. And I think you could either walk around town, door to door, asking if anyone wanted the pup. Or, and more fittingly I believe, you could keep the pup and train him to herd your livestock and guard your farm.' Marnie cooed at the puppy as he slept.   
She was right, Ellie thought to herself. She could use the help and she did feel a connection to the pet. Not to mention the companionship would be much welcomed.

'Marnie, you're right. I think I will keep him, I could certainly use the help when it comes time to have livestock, and it does get scary at night out at the farm.' Ellie couldn't stop herself from smiling and rubbing the dogs ears.

'Marnie, would you be able to give me some help in training him up to herd the livestock?' Ellie inquired. Marnie told her it would be a pleasure to teach her what she knew.   
'But first things first, he needs a name! What are you thinking?' Marnie asked. Ellie contemplated for a few moments, playing with the dogs tail, as he nipped at her hand in annoyance. A lightbulb appeared above Ellie's head and Marnie laughed at the look on her face. 

'Tofu!' Ellie exclaimed, and Marnie's face fell a little at the unusual name.   
'U-um okay, yes very lovely. Tofu… aha,' Marnie smiled encouragingly but couldn’t help but wonder at the strange choice of name. 

But Ellie loved it, she looked at his uneven ears that perked up as she spoke, and the way his deep brown eyes bore into hers with curiosity.   
So she blew in his face to annoy him.  
He barked at her, unimpressed.  
She just laughed back.

'I wonder if this will work out okay…' Marnie said to herself.   
Ellie thanked Marnie for her help and how the situation had resolved itself. She purchased a red collar from Marnie, who engraved Tofu's name into the paw shaped dog tag, and Ellie's address, just in case he ran off further than Pelican town. She had also purchased the essentials from Marnie, a dog bed, a dog bowl and water bowl, and a large bag of dry food.

Tofu sniffed around the room while they waited for the engraving, and Ellie just watched on, her heart brimming with love and affection for the new addition to her family. Marnie was prompt with her work returning after a few minutes, and Ellie put the red colour on Tofu's neck, the bright red standing out stark against his white fur.   
Ellie smiled proudly at the pup and took the lead she had purchased from Marnie, and clipped it to his collar. Ellie said farewell to Marnie and began the walk back to the farm with her new companion. She introduced Tofu to the farm, showing him all the smells and walking around the area with him. Ellie took him inside and set up his things, placing his bed adjacent to hers near the fire and filling his bowls up. 

Ellie hadn’t realised it, but there had been something missing from her home, and Tofu was it. She looked over at him, he was scratching his ear with his leg, before he sneezed in her direction.   
Whatta cutie, she thought to herself.  
Tofu coming into her life had taken up almost all of the afternoon, and Ellie only had an hour before her meeting with Abigail, Sebastian and Sam. 

She wanted to spend more time in helping Tofu settled in, but she had to go meet them. She helped him around the house, showing Tofu every room while turning on all the lights. She turned on the TV and told Tofu she would be home soon, and that he shouldn't worry.

As she went to leave, he tried to dart out the door with her. It took some time for her to escape without letting Tofu out as well. She felt horrible as soon as he left, she heard his soft whines turn to cries as she walked down the path, but tried to push the sounds out of her mind.

She soon arrived at the saloon and was greeted most of the townspeople, the crackling fireplace and the smell of alcohol. Ellie scanned the room nervously, looking for the two purple headed teens and the additional blonde. Not finding them in the main bar, Ellie turned awkwardly towards the billiard room, smiling at all of the villagers and giving them a quick hello. She spotted a messy purple mop of hair, who she assumed was Sebastian and made a beeline towards it. 

She placed her hands on Sebastian's shoulders, startling him.   
He whirled around at the feel of someone's hands on him, but his expression soften at the sight of Ellie.   
'Hey! Ellie, you came.' Sebastian smiled and ushered her into their circle.   
Sam was setting up his shot, taking his sweet time judging by Sebastian's comments.

'God, Sam, if you took any longer, Christmas will be here,' Sebastian laughed and Abigail nudged Sam.  
'HEY. Hey. You cannot rush perfection,' Sam waggled his finger at the both of them.   
'Sam, we both know, your shot is going to be shit. When have you ever beaten either of us?' Abigail laughed and Sam huffed, hitting the white into a pocket. His face fell and he thrust the pool stick into Abigail's hands. 

'Oh Sam, I'm sure the next shot will be okay!' Ellie tried to cheer him up but he dramatically fell onto the couch behind Abigail, and proceeded to pretend to cry.  
'Oh no,' Ellie said, her tone lowering as she tried to cover her laughter. Abigail took her shot, shooting two colours into the right hand pocket, and begun to line up her next shot.

'Ellie, you should play,' Sebastian turned to her.  
'Oh no no, I couldn't, I'm shocking at pool.' Ellie waved her hands in front of her, and Sebastian grabbed the pool stick from Abigail.   
'Come come, I will teach you, its easy. I'm sure you'll easily beat Sam,' Sam let out a sound of disapproval but said nothing else. Ellie laughed and agreed to try, but asked everyone not to laugh.

Ellie held the stick in her right hand and close to the top. Sebastian laughed at her formation.   
He came behind her and grabbed her right hand, moving it further back, and her left hand to hold the end of the stick. Ellie was sure her face was bright red, but wasn’t sure how to calm her beating heart. Ellie couldn't remember a time she was so close to another human being. Let alone a man.

'Now, focus your eye on where your finger ends on the stick, and move it back and forward to line the shot,' Sebastian moved his head near hers. She could smell his cologne, it was musky and had hints of sandalwood. She closed her eyes, being enveloped by his warmth and his scent.  
'Yerp,' she nodded in acknowledgement.   
Yerp? What the hell was yerp.  
Why was she like this?  
Sebastian just raised an eyebrow at her odd word choice, then turned back to help her line the shot up.  
'Then… Shoot!' Ellie followed Sebastian's movements and broke the triangle of balls Abigail had set up for her, and sunk one striped and one coloured. 

Ellie yelled with surprised and pointed at the sunken balls, her mouth wide open with surprise.  
'I SUNK IT!' She exclaimed, jumping up and down.   
'Definitely better than Sam,' Abigail laughed, and Sebastian agreed.  
'Woah, what is this? Pick on Sam night?' Sam feigned hurt, clutching his heart.  
'Isn't that every night?' Abigail retorted. 

Ellie put her hand on Sam's shoulder and offered him redemption by taking her next shot for her.  
He sunk the white.

Sam gave up in a huff and retreated to the corner to play Prairie King while the others finished their pool game. Abigail put her arm around Ellie's shoulder, and told her she was glad she came to their Friday night tradition.

'Of course, I don't want to become the crazy farm lady who only comes into town every full moon,' Ellie half joked. She had worried that was what she would become. Abigail and Sebastian laughed.  
'No way we will let that happen. Fear not young grasshopper,' Abigail joked, changing her tone to mimic those terrible kung-fu movies. Sebastian sunk 2 balls, and lined up his next shot. Ellie began chatting with Abigail, asking about her day and what she had been up to.

'Do you want a drink?' Abigail asked. Ellie blinked with surprise, of course they would drink. It’s a bar.  
'Oh, yes actually, thank you.' Ellie stuttered out. Why was she so awkward at the weirdest times?  
Abigail asked the others and retreated to the bar to order everyone some drinks, Sam opting for a cider, Abigail and Ellie a Bacardi Breezer and Sebastian a larger. 

The night went by too fast. It was filled with laughter, banter and terrible billiard games. Ellie's face was bright red, the alcohol going straight to her head. She realised she had forgotten to eat before coming to this. The group changed from pool to Prairie King, egging each other on to beat Abigail's high score, while she stood confidently assured of her number 1 position.   
She remained the reigning queen, as no one had managed it by the end of the night.

'It appears I remain the best player in Pelican town,' Abigail mocked, bowing towards the frowning trio.   
'I think she cheated,' Ellie pointed out, Sebastian and Sam's faces lit up.  
'Wow, yeah that makes sense, no way she's that good. Seems fake,' Sebastian added.

'What! No way, it's pure skill losers, read it and weep.' She pointed to her score.   
'Nup, don’t think so.' Sam said  
'Yeah, sounds fake,' Ellie added. Abigail just glared at everyone and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Ellie laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.  
'Aw, Abigail of course you have skill, but definitely a lot of dumb luck,' Ellie teased and Abigail poked her tongue out at her.

 

'But lets be honest with each other… What cheat code did you input before you played?' Abigail pushed Sam and Ellie off her before chasing Sam around the pool table.  
'WHY DO YOU NEVER LISTEN TO MEEEE,' Abigail shouted, grasping at the ends of Sam's hoodie.  
'SORRY CANT HEAR YOU,' Sam shouted back, laughing as he rounded the table.  
'Oh children, children. Please stop squabbling.' Sebastian chided. Ellie smirked at him.  
'Yes children, its not becoming to argue in public.' Ellie added, and Sebastian put his arm around her, putting his head into Ellie's shoulder.  
'Oh Ellie, whatever shall we do with these horrible children? We cannot go on!' He fake sobbed and Ellie struggled to contain her laughter.  
'We shall send them off to boarding school, never to be seen again. Out of sight and out of mind!' Abigail and Sam wailed and begged not to be sent away, and Ellie could no longer contain her laughter, bursting into a fit of giggles.

Their antics continued into the night, Ellie couldn't help but watch the others interact, their expressions and she felt at peace. She felt accepted. She really wanted to get closer to these people. Ellie had never had many friends, but she felt the trio were all genuine individuals. Everyone in town actually seemed genuine. Which is shocking as Ellie thought most small times were full of gossip and cliques.   
She laughed to herself quietly, stereotypes are dangerous aren't they. 

It was around 1 am when Ellie began yawning more frequently.   
'Aw Ellie, are you tired?' Abigail asked.  
'A little, hard day on the farm and I have to do it all again tomorrow,' Ellie replied.

'Well, we'll all walk you home! It’s the least we can do,' Sam announced.  
'Oh no, I couldn't ask that of all of you, especially since you and Abigail live so close to the Saloon. My farm is so far out of the way,' Ellie said. She was touched by Sams offer.  
'Well, if you wont let us all walk you home, what about Sebastian? Your farm and the mountains are close by each other, so its not too far for him,' Sam offered, Sebastian groaned complaining that it was soooo much walking. But ultimately agreed to do it. Ellie smiled and thanked him.

They said good-bye to Gunther and Emily and walked outside. Saying farewell to each other with the promise to meet next week, they all turned in different directions and walked home.  
Ellie and Sebastian walked mostly in silence, but it felt good. She felt happy, drunk and anxious all at once, she couldn't help but laugh at the craziness of her emotions and why she was this way.  
'Did you have fun with everyone?' Sebastian's voice suddenly broke her from her musings.   
'Oh! Yes, it was actually more fun than I anticipated. You all seem so close,' Ellie noted. Sebastian looked up at the stars and smiled.  
'Well there's not too many people in this town and we're the same age, so I guess we were the best options for each other,' Ellie thought to herself that that seemed like a cynical way of looking at their friendship. They arrived at Ellie's farm, and she offered him a cigarette while they stood outside on her porch, sitting on the bench together and looking at the stars.

'Regardless if that is the case, we became each others best friends and have been inseparable since. Did either of them tell you we formed a band?' Sebastian added. Ellie nodded her head.  
'Yeah, Sam told me you guys did. I forgot to ask what kind of music or what you all played though,' Ellie laughed.  
'I play the piano, well keyboard in this case. Sam plays guitar and Abigail plays drums,' Sebastian explained. Ellie hmm'd in response.   
'Did you all learn to form a band together?' Sebastian laughed at this question.  
'No, Mum made me learn piano when I was young. Although it was a chore at the time, I fell in love with it as I grew older. I think Sam learned during high school and has just never stopped playing since. Abigail prefers flute to drums but learned them for us, I'm fairly certain,' Sebastian shook his head and smiled.

Ellie liked learning about him, his past and memories. She felt closer to him at times like this. How peaceful and intimate to sit on the porch as the stars watched them talk the night away. They talked for a while until Ellie could no longer stifle her yawns and Sebastian gave her a sideways glance.  
'It seems Farmer Ellie, that it is well past your bedtime,' Sebastian remarked. Ellie laughed at this and stretched her arms over her head.  
'Why yes, I do believe so. Thank you for tonight. It was really lovely.' Ellie gave Sebastian a quick hug, before retreating to the front door.  
'Get home safe, okay?' She said before entering her home. Sebastian nodded in response, before standing up and making his way down the stairs of her front porch.


End file.
